After having their five game winning streak end on Tuesday against the Detroit Pistons, the Atlanta Hawks are back in action tonight against the San Antonio Spurs. Atlanta has been a really good team on the road this season, recently going 4-0 on a West Coast road trip, and they are going to be facing a Spurs team that is without MVP candidate Victory Wembanyama, second year guard Stephon Castle, and No. 2 overall pick Dylan Harper.
The game is getting close to tip-off and here are the starters for tonight’s game:
Hawks
G- Nickeil Alexander-Walker
G- Dyson Daniels
F- Zaccharie Risacher
F- Jalen Johnson
C- Kristaps Porzingis
Spurs
G- De’Aaron Fox
G- Julian Champagnie
F- Devin Vassell
F- Harrison Barnes
C- Luke Kornet
By the numbers
So how do the Hawks advanced numbers look after the first 15 games of the season? Our own Rohan Raman took a deeper look when previewing tonight’s game:
“The Hawks’ offense wasn’t completely dismal, but their lacking performance against Detroit left something to be desired. Still, Atlanta is 18th in points, 8th in FG%, 14th in 3P%, 17th in FT%, 24th in rebounds (25th in OREB), 1st in assists and 17th in turnovers per game. They’re 18th in offensive rating on the year, which is a respectable number when considering that Young has barely played for them.
Atlanta’s defense also had a mediocre night against Detroit, but the larger sample of games thus far still suggests they’re a good defense. On a per-game basis, Atlanta ranks 11th in points allowed, 8th in FG% allowed, 10th in 3P% allowed, 25th in rebounds allowed, 4th in steals and 9th in blocks. They’re 8th in defensive rating on the year and it’s been critical to their relative success with Young out.
The Spurs aren’t a stellar offense, but they’ve adopted more of a team-focused approach with Wembanyama out and it’s resulted in them being solid. They’re 14th in points, 4th in FG%, 15th in 3P%, 16th in FT%, 11th in rebounds (18th in OREB), 12th in assists and 22nd in turnovers per game. This is a team that still needs to be respected on offense despite missing their star player – they’re 10th in offensive net rating.
Just like Detroit, the Spurs have a pretty stout defense. They’re 3rd in points allowed, 5th in FG% allowed, 26th in 3P% allowed, 4th in rebounds allowed, 14th in steals and 11th in blocks. Once again, this should be one of the tougher defensive matchups the Hawks have faced this year. However, it’s hard to say if that will hold true when considering the likely absences of Wembanyma and Stephon Castle.”
More Atlanta Hawks News:
